Khalifa Haftar left Palermo on Tuesday after attending a mini-summit on security in Libya and neighbouring states ahead of the plenary session of an international conference on the turmoil-hit country, The Address, a website close to the powerful eastern military commander said.
Beneath the news item, The Address published photos of Haftar leaving the Villa Igiea conference venue in Palermo.
Italian premier Giuseppe Conte earlier posted to his Twitter account photos of Haftar shaking hands warmly with his main political rival, Libya's United Nations backed premier Fayez al-Sarraj and embracing Conte at a meeting in Palermo on Tuesday.
Haftar was however absent from the group photo of delegates to the international conference, which he shunned despite strenuous efforts by the Italian government to persuade him to take part.
The UN backed conference is seen as a symbol of Italy's determination to regain control of diplomatic initiatives on Libya after a failed conference in France in May and Haftar's attendance had been seen as crucial to the event's success.
